Kathryn Pearce: Making patients the focus at Mercyhealth

Monday

This article will appear in the Register Star's 75 People to Know special section, which publishes April 1.

On its face, it’s obvious: Patients should be at the center of everything a hospital and health center do.

If only it were that easy. In today’s busy, complex world, with insurance and government rules, and demands and expectations coming from all directions to doctors, nurses and others providing health care, the patient sometimes feels that his or her wishes are not getting the attention they deserve.

Kathryn Pearce works to make sure that does not happen at Mercyhealth in Rockford. She even expands the mission: the patient and his or her family need to be priorities, always, she said.

As Mercyhealth’s director of The Patient Experience, she works with all Mercyhealth staff, blending best practices with routine care at the hospital. Each individual who touches a patient’s hospital stay must see the work as a “privilege to step into the patients’ life story, and that of their family. We each impact each other in a powerful way,” Pearce said. “Even in the midst of a difficult outcome, our care and service should be heartfelt.”

Pearce also makes sure interpretive services are available for patients and families who do not speak fluent English. She recently coordinated interpreting in half a dozen languages, including Tagalog, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Tigrinya and Arabic. Spanish interpreters are often needed, and sign language interpretation is provided for deaf patients.

“Doctors need information immediately when they see a patient,” she said. “Not only does it help us plan treatment but it lets the patients know that we understand them and they are being well cared for.”

Part of the training Pearce coordinates for staff has to do with the English language. It’s easy for providers to talk in medical lingo, but they must remember to speak to patients in words they understand, she said. The providers must be mindful of the literacy level of patients and take the time to ask questions to make sure the patients understand.

“It works to everyone’s advantage,” Pearce noted. “Patients need to be partners in their health care — that’s critical. If they don’t understand, they end up coming back to the hospital and we start all over.”

Pearce’s off-duty life reflects the holistic approach she takes to her work. She is active in Transform Rockford, co-leading the leadership and youth group. The focus is getting organizations — public and private — involved in looking at their leadership culture and how it can be improved and passed on to the next generation.

She also is part of the 815 Choose Civility movement, which asks all of us to step back and ask what we can do to be more respectful of everyone we meet. Just listening and eye contact go a long way, said Pearce, along with a resolve to be respectful and understand differences among us.

Pearce put her resolve to work when she met a little girl at a local community festival last summer. In talking about civility, the girl said some of her friends were not very civil when they teased her about her freckles. Pearce took the time to explain that those freckles came from God and were part of what made her beautiful and special. Later, the girl saw her again and ran to her with a big hug.

“I hope her belief system changed, and that she will go on to share that perspective,” Pearce said.

Recently, Pearce returned from her eighth trip to Ethiopia on a medical mission with a group called Adventures in Truth. The organization provides medical care, support for medical providers, and solar-powered audio Bibles to people who live in isolated parts of the country.

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